//------------------------------// // The crystal empire // Story: Harry Potter, Knight of the moon // by The Walker //------------------------------// Harry rubbed his temples with his hoofs as he sat at a desk in his room. Sirius had been here for three months and he had already started to cause headaches. He had teamed up with Nightmare Moon and they were harassing the maids and his guards. He let out a groan as he heard a knock on the door. He turned to it. “Yes, what is it?” “Sir, your godfather is harassing Flare Runner again.” Harry rolled his eyes as he got to his hooves. He walked over to the door and looked at the guard standing there. “Come on, I’m going to put a stop to these shenanigans right now. They’ve gone on long enough.” He walked past the guard, who quickly followed him. He passed the rest of the guards who saw the look on his face and quickly got out of the way. He stepped out of the barracks and saw Sirius facing Flare Runner who was trying to get past him and into the barracks. “I don’t care if you’re the captain’s godfather. You cannot keep harassing the rest of the guards.” Sirius snorted. “I wouldn’t call it harassment. A guy can’t flirt a little.” Harry let out a sigh. “Sirius, I don’t care who you flirt with, but you can’t keep bothering the guard. If you do, I will be forced to arrest you for obstruction.” Sirius froze and turned around. His face held a betrayed look. “Sirius, just because I’m captain of the night guard doesn’t mean I can keep you out of trouble. Of course it doesn’t help when you and Moon team up to pull pranks on everyone.” Harry looked Sirius in the eyes as he said this. “Besides you clearly aren’t doing well being in the palace, so you’re being sent to Zebrica.” Sirius blinked. “What?” Harry nodded. “I have contacted my zebra friend Zalos and he was quite happy to take you in. So you’re being sent to Zebrica until you learn to stop flirting with everything female.”  Sirius took on a thoughtful look as he listened to Harry. “What’s Zebrica like?” “It’s hot and full of zebras. It’s like Africa back in our world.” Harry pursed his lips as he thought of something. “While you’re in Zebrica, watch out for a dragon named Talith. I’ve been told she’s looking for me and I don’t want her in Equestria just yet.” Sirius raised an eyebrow, sure there was a story there, but he didn’t say anything. “Alright, I guess. I’ll go pack. Who knows, I might like it there.” Sirius walked down the hall as he headed to his room to pack. Harry didn’t normally believe in omens, but he had a sinking feeling in his gut about Sirius going to Zebrica. He shook it off and turned to enter his room when he felt a powerful source of magic enter his senses. He frowned. He knew the feeling of this magic. “What’s Twilight doing in Canterlot?” He called forth the power of the Cloak and heard the guards behind him grumble as he disappeared. They had learned to accept his disappear act and knew that he would find them if he needed to tell the something. Harry watched as Twilight exited the room looking downcast. He had listened as Celestia had explained about the Crystal Empire and ask her to go up there. Harry thought it was a bit much even with her friends helping her. He entered the room slowly and released his invisibility. “Not to question your judgment, but do you really think Twilight and her friends can do this on their own.”  The two princesses turned having gotten used to him appearing out of thin air. Well Celestia had gotten used to it. The last time he had appeared behind Luna, she had kicked him in the chest and sent him through a wall. Celestia merely raised an eyebrow at his appearance before speaking. “I have full confidence in Twilight and her friends, But…” Her face took on a hesitant look. “I have a bad feeling in the pit of my gut that tells me to send the entire guard.” Luna looked at her sister with an incredulous look. “Then why didn’t you?” Celestia stared at Luna for a few moments. “Luna, I’m not going to leave Canterlot mostly undefended because of a bad feeling in my gut.” Harry looked between the two. “If you want, I’ll send a changeling with them to let us know if anything goes wrong.” Both Princesses looked at Harry who shrugged. “I would like to know if something goes wrong. On another note, I’m sending Sirius down to Zebrica. He needs to cool off or one of the guards will snap and beat his head against a wall.” Harry looked around the room. “Speaking of Sirius and his pranks, where’s Nightmare Moon. I haven’t seen her today and the maids tell me she isn’t bothering them.” The two princesses frowned at each other. Celestia spoke. “Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen her today as well. Luna have you seen her.” Luna’s frowned deepened. “No, she’s been suspiciously absent today.” Luna shivered. “You don’t think she’s planning another large scaled prank like that one, do you?” Harry shook his head. “I like to think I’ve persuaded her to not do a thing like that again.” Harry frowned as another thought came to him. “I haven’t seen Chrysalis today either. Where are those two?” He paused as he heard a knock on the door and turned to see a maid holding a letter. “Yes.” “Letter for you.” Harry grasped the letter and quickly unrolled it. He scanned the contents and let out a sigh. “Apparently Nightmare Moon went to the beach and took Chrysalis with her.” Harry shook his head as he finished the letter. “She apparently wanted girl time with Chrysalis.” He shook his head. “What does the even mean? They couldn’t talk in the castle.” Luna suddenly made a noise that had both Harry and Celestia looking at her. “I have to go to the beach.” Luna’s horn flared and she disappeared in a flash of light. Celestia and Harry looked at the spot where she was before Harry spoke. “I wonder what that was about.” Celestia looked at him a few moments in disbelief, but shook her head before she could talk. He’d figure it out eventually. “Harry since my sister is at the beach and I cannot currently think of any reasons it would be a bad idea, could you travel to the Crystal Empire?” Harry looked at her. While it was true he didn’t have much to do, could he really travel to the crystal empire. He thought it over a few moments before nodding his head. “Yeah, I’ll travel to the empire.” He thought for a few moments. “But didn’t the train leave a few minutes ago?” Celestia frowned. Harry shook his head. “I’ll figure out my own way there.” Celestia nodded at this and Harry drew his hood up. “I’ll leave immediately. Please let Luna and the guards know where I am.” Harry disappeared with a pop. Celestia frowned at the spot where he was. “Is it really that hard to use doors?” Harry appeared at the train station in Canterlot and looked around. He smiled as he saw a ticket master and walked up to him. “Hello, which direction is the Crystal Empire in?” The ticket master stared at him like he had seen a ghost and shakily pointed a hoof north. Harry nodded in thanks and disappeared. He reappeared on the train track heading north and continued to make jumps until he saw the train. He disappeared and reappeared on top of the train and laid down to take a nap. The wind tore at his body, but the cloak kept him warn and the wind from being too bad. He cast a sticking charm on his body as he closed his eyes and fell into his unconscious. His eyes opened to the throne room of his dreamscape. He looked around noting that the changes Nightmare had made to it had either stuck around or they had been repaired by Spectre. He snorted in amusement. The decoration felt nice any way. He turned and walked down the staircase pausing at the bottom to peer out into the courtyard.  He tapped the last step and with a shudder the wall opened revealing another passageway leading down. Harry walked down it. As Harry descended he started to hear roars. He reached the bottom revealing a stone room with a large metal door set in the wall. Spectre was standing in front of the doors with his eyes closed. Harry walked over and sat beside him. “Any luck yet?” Spectre opened his eyes and shook his head. He sat as he looked at the door with a glare to melt steel. “I’m not sure why it won’t listen to us. It’s our animagus form for god’s sake.” Harry looked at the door as he thought. He and Spectre had explored the dreamscape on their travels when they weren’t mock fighting and they had discovered this chamber quite by accident. Spectre had fallen and hit the wall blocking the passage way and it fell down. They had discovered Harry’s animal form behind the doorway, but they couldn’t get it to calm down. It tried to eat them every time they opened the door and they still weren’t sure what it was. They could only tell it was big and very angry before they had to seal the door shut. Spectre had decided they might need the form in the future and had been trying to tame it. “I’m sure we’ll get it in time.” Harry stood as he looked upwards. “It feels like the train has stopped. Time to wake up.” Spectre nodded as he glared at the door. Harry shrugged and disappeared from the dreamscape. Harry’s eyes opened as he stood on top of the train. He hopped off the train and walked in the direction he felt Twilight’s magic. He frowned as he felt her magic start moving faster. Was she running? He walked faster and drew his Cloak around him to block the wind. He paused in his as he felt Twilight’s become cloaked in something. He stopped completely as he felt something coming towards him. “What is that?” He watched as dark smoke seemed to appear from nowhere and form a large cloud. He raised an eyebrow as two green eyes appeared in the cloud. He snorted. “Is that supposed to be scary? I’ve fought a giant snake that could kill with a look and a dark wizard. That’s not scary.” The cloud let out a roaring growl and engulf and Harry realized he probably shouldn’t have provoked it as it engulfed him. He shivered as he felt the cloud flow around him. He started to gag as he felt the cloud flow into his mouth and down his throat. He felt crystals start to form on his horn. He reached inward and grasped his magic. His eyes flared white. “GET AWAY FROM ME.” The cloud was forced away as his magic flared and he ran forward and threw a dome he could barely see. He stumbled as he felt warm air on his face. He looked up as started to cough and found Twilight and the others staring at him. He made a small wave at them. He stopped coughing and stood. “Hi, what are the odds we would meet here?” Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. Harry shrugged. “Alright, Celestia totally sent me to help if things become too troublesome to deal with on your own.” Harry tried to push magic out of his horn and found it hampered by the crystals. He frowned. “That’s not good.” He focused on the group when he heard Twilight speak. “Sombra attacked you too Harry.” Harry frowned at that. That cloud was this Sombra person. Now he definitely knew something was wrong. “I may have provoked him.” The others looked at him for a few moments as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Finally Twilight spoke. “And why, would you do that?” Harry shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time I guess.” Harry watched as the others hit themselves in the face. “So, shall we go see princess Cadence?” The others looked at Harry and then each other and all nodded at once. Harry looked around uncomfortably. The ponies that milled around the streets were wrong somehow. It seemed like they had lost the spark that made life worth living. Harry frowned as a thought came to him that had been milling around the back of his skull. They may have lost their spark, but something infinitely worse had happened to Sombra. Sombra was empty for a lack of a better term. It was like someone had reached in and taken everything that would bring joy and left only darkness. Harry didn’t believe Sombra was evil, no someone had done that to him. They had twisted his mind and soul and made him bad. Harry looked up as they arrived at the tower in the center of the city. He needed to meet with Cadence, get rid of the crystals on his horn and figure out what was wrong with Sombra and who did it to him. Harry snorted. Just an average day in the life of Harry Potter.